District Man Found Guilty of First-Degree Murder In 2008 Killing of Silver Spring Man

            WASHINGTON – Mason Binion, 32, of Washington, D.C., was found guilty after a jury trial of first-degree murder while armed, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Shea and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Binion was found guilty following a trial in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in front of The Honorable Ronna Lee Beck. Sentencing is scheduled for May 1, 2020. Proctor faces a potential sentence of life in prison without parole.

            According to the government’s evidence, on June 21, 2008, at approximately 12:30 a.m., Binion and three other individuals drove the victim, Michael F. Taylor, from a recreation center in Silver Spring to the 600 Block of Emerson Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C.  Binion and Taylor had arranged for a large purchase of drugs, and Taylor had given the drug money to a middleman who then took off with the money. Searching for revenge, Binion and his associates drove into the alley, stopped the car in front of a detached garage behind 610 Farragut Street, and then shot Taylor in the back of the head, killing him.

            In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Shea and Chief Newsham commended the work of those investigating the case from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dan Lenerz and Jeff Pearlman; Supervisory Victim/Witness Services Coordinator Katina Adams-Washington; Victim/Witness Services Coordinator La June Thames; Administrative Services Specialists Tina Wall; Supervisory Budget Specialist Nikiya Burnett; Paralegal Meridith McGarrity; Victim Advocate Marcia Rinker; Supervisory IT Specialist Leif Hickling; and Investigative Analyst Zach McMenamin.

            Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gilead Light and Michael Spence, who prosecuted the case.